“Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward.” Maxwell Maltz

Motivation Mondays: A QUESTION of BALANCE – How do we create it in our lives?

You see, we cannot draw lines and compartments and refuse to budge beyond them. Sometimes you have to use your failures as stepping-stones to success. You have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair.’ He paused, considering what he had just said. ‘Yes’, he repeated. ‘In the end, it’s all a question of balance.” Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance
I don’t like the word ‘balance.’ To me, that somehow conjures up conflict between work and family… as long as we think of these things as conflicting, we will never have happiness. True happiness comes from integration… of work, family, self, community. Padmasree Warrior
A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life. William Arthur Ward
Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony. Thomas Merton
How seldom we weigh our neighbor in the same balance with ourselves. Thomas a Kempis
No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for ‘we’ are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives. Louise L. Hay

What does BALANCE mean to YOU? I’m always thinking about how to balance and/or integrate the demands on my life and time. Most of us start out with good intentions to accomplish our goals and then life happens. So what do we do? Life doesn’t have to be a perfectly run machine but, we are responsible for making sure that whatever drives or motivates us to act can also help us make wiser choices on how we manage our lives and time. We’ve all learned from experience that when we create a realistic schedule for ourselves, we are less inclined to feel rushed or stressed than when we just take on projects and let events happen to us. While creating a work/life balance remains a constant concern for most people, we need to evaluate the what/why of our daily routine and then map out a plan to tackle it. Before we create a plan to make our lives less hectic and more balanced, it is imperative that we ask ourselves three fundamental questions: Intention – What do I want to accomplish with my life now? Purpose – Why does it matter? and Plan – What must I do to achieve my plan? Once we’ve determined the answers to those questions, we can proceed with tender, reflective steps to create the life that suits our needs best.

Finding our balance in the ebb and flow of life is imperative; however, acknowledging both its blessings and burdens can sometimes seem frightening. It won’t be as scary if we remember that life is about seeing and appreciating the work in progress that we all are. If we were perfect, we would have no purpose; the struggle for meaning, mastery and creativity will be a pointless proposition. All life is about creating moments; these yin yang moments remind us that the ups and downs are for our growth and we can/must move forward. Life is also made up of special and ordinary events that elevate and enervate us and we can choose to fight the shifts or go with the flow. We can’t appreciate the balance if we don’t experience the ebb and flow of life; our motivation should lie in seeking a positive response to the large and small movements as that will make a big difference.

A Story: The Headache & Halo by Anon
One day, a man walked into his doctor’s office complaining… ” Doctor, I have this awful headache that won’t go away. Please, could you give me a prescription for it?”
“I will,” murmured the doctor, pondering what had set off his usually calm patient. “but first, I want to check out a few things and ask you a few questions… Tell me, do you drink a lot of alcohol?”
“Alcohol?” the man shouted back indignantly. “I never touch that filthy stuff. Nor do I go near people who drink it. All filthy!”
“How about smoking?” the doctor calmly inquired.
“I think smoking is disgusting. I’ve never touched tobacco in my life.”
“Okay,” the doctor continued, “I’m a bit embarrassed to even ask this, but… Do you run around at night seeking dangerous pleasures?”
“Of course not! What do you take me for? I’m a highly spiritual and disciplined man, and I’m in bed by 10 o’clock every night.” The man spat back.
“Then, tell me…” said the doctor, “This pain in your head, is it a sharp, shooting kind of pain?”
“Yes, yes!” The man eagerly replied, his eyes lighting up… “It is… a sharp, shooting kind of pain.”
“Well, that’s simple, my dear fellow!” the doctor replied with a smile on his face. “The trouble is that you have your halo on too tight. All we need to do for you is loosen it up a bit; loosen you up a bit! Avoid the bad habits I mentioned earlier, and enjoy some innocent pleasures in life – Create some balance. Let go of the rigidity. Live!”

“The cynic finds love with the idealist. The rebel with the conformist. The social butterfly with the bookworm. They help each other balance their lives.” Joyce Brothers

Motivation Mondays: A QUESTION of BALANCE – How do we create it in our lives?

Faith gives you an inner strength and a sense of balance and perspective in life. Gregory Peck
The further we distance ourselves from the spell of the present, explored by our senses, the harder it will be to understand and protect nature’s precarious balance, let alone the balance of our own human nature. Diane Ackerman
Letting go helps us to to live in a more peaceful state of mind and helps restore our balance. It allows others to be responsible for themselves and for us to take our hands off situations that do not belong to us. This frees us from unnecessary stress. Melody Beattie
There is a fine balance between honoring the past and losing yourself in it. For example, you can acknowledge and learn from mistakes you made, and then move on and refocus on the now. It is called forgiving yourself. Eckhart Tolle
It is better to lose everything you have to keep the balance of justice level, than to live a life of petty privilege devoid of true freedom. Bryant H. McGill
Overcome your barriers, intend the best, and be patient. You will enjoy more balance, more growth, more income, and more fun! Jack Canfield

We want our best self to feel centered and in charge, yet we sabotage ourselves by overreaching, by overcompensating, by allowing disgust and fear to rule, and then, by flaming out. We run ourselves ragged and allow ourselves to be burnt to smithereens by unresolved fears of being left behind; alternating fears of success with a deep fear of failure. Mirroring the sacred and good work we do daily is the profane critic’s voice… “Not good enough, do more. Not good enough, say more. Not good enough, want more!” Until we shut that noisy, raspy voice up and embrace the magnificence of simple things around us; by pausing to smell scented Jasmin petals, perhaps resting under the Jacaranda tree, we will lose balance… We will struggle again and again to gain only snatches of joy. Sometimes, I wonder if all that rushing around and doing that keeps many of us endlessly and, perhaps, mindlessly occupied is a form of escapism. Is it a refusal to stop and focus on what we fear would happen if we just STOP and BREATHE!? Who are you competing against? Where is your balance?

Wisdom Words: Balance Your Mind
Mind studies was a lay self-improvement movement influenced by Zen. One day a follower of Mind studies came to Zen master Shosan to ask about the essentials of Buddhism. The Zen master said, “Buddhism is not a matter of using your discursive intellect to govern your body. It is a matter of using the moment of the immediate present purely, not wasting it, without thinking about past or future. “This is why the ancients exhorted people first of all to be careful of time: this means guarding the mind strictly, sweeping away all things, whether good or bad, and detaching from the ego.”
“Furthermore,” Zen master continued, “for the reformation of mind it is good to observe the principle of cause and effect. For example, even if others hate us, we should not resent them; we should criticize ourselves, thinking why people should hate us for no reason, assuming that there must be a causal factor in us, and even that there must be other as yet unknown casual factors in us.
“Maintaining that all things are effects of causes, we should not make judgments based on subjective ideas. On the whole, things do not happen in accord with subjective ideas; they happen in accord with the laws of Nature. If you maintain awareness of this, your
mind will become very clear.” Source: Zen Antics

The details for Motivation Mondays are below. Join in! The themes for March/April 2017 are:

“The man who has sufficient power over himself to wait until his nature has recovered its even balance is the truly wise man, but such beings are seldom met with.” Giacomo Casanova

Motivation Mondays: A QUESTION of BALANCE – How do we create it in our lives?

One should see the world, and see himself as a scale with an equal balance of good and evil. When he does one good deed the scale is tipped to the good – he and the world is saved. When he does one evil deed the scale is tipped to the bad – he and the world is destroyed. Maimonides
Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle. Helen Keller
But if you can create an honorable livelihood, where you take your skills and use them and you earn a living from it, it gives you a sense of freedom and allows you to balance your life the way you want. Anita Roddick
There is no decision that we can make that doesn’t come with some sort of balance or sacrifice. Simon Sinek
It’s about having an active lifestyle, staying healthy, and making the right decisions. Life is about balance. Not everybody wants to run a marathon, but we could all start working out and being active, whether you walk to work or take an extra flight of stairs. Apolo Ohno

How can we create BALANCE? Every day, I am reminded that the need for balance begins in our heart and mind, flows through our actions, and then flows back to the place of peace within. Making the time to be quiet, and to reflect on what remains to be completed ahead of us, allows us to adjust our schedule if needed and then focus on the things that truly matter. It takes, faith, forgiveness of our need for perfection, action and compassion, self love and a desire for change to reach that place of inner equilibrium. Until we make peace with that voice that tells us we are not enough, we will continue to run ourselves ragged at the doorstep of our desires. Success is truly not how hard your work but, how smart you work at what fuels your passion … there is a difference. Find your balance and rest there. What about you? What are your thoughts? What do you do to create balance in your life?? What stands in the way of your efforts? Do you believe we humans can live balanced lives?

A Story: Balance Of Nature
A wise Zen frog was explaining to the younger frogs the balance of nature: “Do you see how that fly eats a gnat? And now (with a bite) I eat the fly. It is all part of the great scheme of things.”
“Isn’t it bad to kill in order to live?” asked the thoughtful frog.
“It depends . . .” answered the wise frog just as a snake swallowed the Zen frog in one chomp before the frog finished his sentence.
“Depends on what?” shouted the students.
“Depends on whether you’re looking at things from the inside or outside,” came the muffled response from inside the snake. Source: Zen Fables For Today

Motivation Mondays is open to anyone who wishes to share a motivational quote, photo, personal challenge or a post that encourages others to start the week on an upbeat note.Basic Instructions: Each week, I will have a motivation word to help us create a response. (See listed words for the months above/below)Email address: You may email or share your post as a comment and I will add it to the round-up of related posts. email it to: contact(@)mirthandmotivation(.)comCategory tag: – Share your post using Motivation MondaysTwitter hashtag: – Use this on Twitter #MotvnMDedicated Page: There is a dedicated page for Motivation Mondays. It has the same instructions and will include other helpful tools and a link to the round-upFacebook Page:MotivationOnMondays Join our page and add your post and/or any motivational piece you think will be helpful to others.Facebook Community: We have a Facebook community forum to compliment the page. It serves as another way to share uplifting posts and thoughts. Please join in and add your voice.

Badge: – I created a fun badge using PicMonkey’s free photo editing tools. You can create your own, use WordPress’ integrated tool on your blog or you are welcome to use mine. (see dedicated page)Tag: – Motivation MondaysHashtag: – #MotvnMRelated Posts

Exactly. I get some of my ideas from the comments I read on my posts and there was one on another post about foods that gave rise to this post… The comment was about pure, clean, healthy, best, preferred foods, yada, yada, yada. What is “pure”? As I thought about it, I realized that anytime we turn a preference into a rigid chore/choice, something gets thrown off kilter. Balance and moderation in all things is my motto. Want a chocolate coated ice cream cone? Have one! Want carrot sticks for lunch? Go for it. Just don’t throw one out forever and maintain a spartan, dull life. Yep Ana, I agree. We all need Balance. Balance. Balance!

Indeed. Many of us keep doing till we drop dead. Or we work ourselves to the bone and postpone enjoying our lives until “retirement.” Then folks retire and die. Live. Balance the work with simple pleasures. 🙂

No matter what we do, Mondays will just keep coming. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to launch them with an upbeat and positive foundation? Packed with inspirational quotes and thought-provoking questions, this post will help you do just that.

Hahaha! 🙂 Thank you for the vote of confidence Karlyn! I used to not be a fan of Mondays but, change is possible when we set our hearts and minds to something. Now, I always look forward to what the muse and grace will offer me for each Monday’s post. <3

Balance, something that a lot of people find so difficult to achieve. I struggle with it from time to time as well. Too much work, too much fun, not enough of anything. Sigh. I really like that story about the headache and the halo. We really need to live more and make sure that we don’t live too much that we forget about our priorities too.

I definitely started to feel more at peace and balanced after I read The Secret , and started meditating consistently and practicing the law of attraction to get rid of those pesky voices telling me I’m not good enough. I’ve found that these things have made me a lot more confident, at peace with my decisions and life, and they have left me in this fairly constant state of bliss.

I needed to be reminded of balance today. Heading into a week with a lot on my plate .. I know that things that are important to me can easily be crowded out. One of my intentions for 2017 was to be kinder to myself .. which means keeping walks and getting enough sleep as priorities. The work will always be there